Tag Archives: Quinn

Worn Out

This has been a long week…

On Monday, we got a new foster dog. He is a handful. He barks and whines at night, whenever we crate him. He can literally bark for HOURS. He can also break out of his crate. I took him for a 1.5-2 mile bike ride one day and a 4-4.5 mile bike ride another and he still barked and whined when we got home.

On Wednesday, we found out about Quinn.

On Thursday (today), I had a sick dog who would not eat her breakfast and got sick in the house (let’s just leave it at that). Late this afternoon, we had animal control come to our house. Not because of all of the barking. Or because we have four dogs. But because one of our dogs is thin. I will give them that… she IS thin, but she is needs-to-put-on-a-few-pounds thing, NOT about-to-die-because-no-one-feeds-her thin. Yes, she looks very thin in comparison to the average dog, because the average dog is FAT. This girl runs for hours a day. I am certain that one of our neighbors called it in, without talking to us first. We must take her to the vet to have her tested for “diseases causing thinness”. Money that we will waste. I don’t think it is too likely that my dog who ran all weekend, and went on a four mile off-leash bike ride yesterday, where she ran way more than we biked, is sick. She just lovvvves running.

To be positive though, everyone has been really supportive. Several people listened to my rants about animal control. I’ve talked to lots of people about Quinn and considering a new little boy. There is a chance that we will be adopting a different little boy and when we figure that all out, I’ll let you know… I also have a cool fundraiser idea that I am working on and hopefully will be letting you know about soon…

Bye-bye, Quinn

We found out today that we won’t be adopting Quinn. I am not so sad as much as disappointed and uncertain about our next step. He is going into foster care in his country, so I hope that he can find a good family there. At least being in foster care will be better than an orphanage for him.

I am glad that this happened so early in our adoption process. We can choose another child if we’d like. I am not sure what we’re going to do… none of the boys are currently “jumping out” at me, but Andrea is adding more children to the website today.

It took me by surprise, not the idea of being in the process of adopting and then finding out that we will not be bringing that child home, but that it was Quinn. I expected Erika to the the one who would get adopted elsewhere. Because she is younger and a girl. I did get a new photo of her today. She looks so much older to me!

Erika & Quinn’s Room

This does not relate to our adoption process, but I wanted to share it since we just closed on our house yesterday! We are slowly moving in. One of the things I have been thinking about is the room which will be Erika and Quinn’s. We planned this out as we prepared to move in. I am nervous that they will end up not coming home, and I sort of feel that planning out their room before we even complete our home study is “putting the cart before the horse”. But,  I can’t help having ideas. We don’t know Erika and Quinn at all, beyond their photos and description, so basically, I am dreaming up a totally awesome room for a 2-5 year old boy or girl. Good plan?

We chose this room for a very specific reason. Not proximity to the bathroom or master bedroom… or the great natural light… No, we chose it because of the odd doorway to the small closet-like space. Seems totally weird?

A few months ago, I saw a photo of a hidden playroom– someone had a space like this and they cut a hole in the back of an armoire and used that as a “door” to the playroom.

Doesn’t it just scream… Narnia??? I think our space is probably smaller, but oh well… I know when I was younger, I loved secret places and forts.  If they don’t like it, it would still be a convenient place to toss all of the toys when someone is coming over!

There are a lot of other things that I’d love to incorporate in their room…  my some of my all time favorite fabrics are the sock monkey fabrics by Moda. I would love to base the rest of their room around those fabrics.

I think that it will be aqua and red– which sounds like a hideous color combination, but it is actually super cute.

A less feminine and more kid-friendly version of this… I just love the barely blue walls with the bright red curtains.

So is it totally crazy that we are already planning this out? It’s not like we have started buying things for their room, but I love to be thinking about these things.

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Today, well, technically yesterday, is Quinn’s fourth birthday… May 3rd.

Even though Quinn is not here, he is not ours yet, and we have not even met him, we decided to celebrate his birthday. You know us, any excuse to eat cake!

Can I just take this opportunity to tell my mother than I am completely in awe of her cake decorating skills? I wish I had a photo of my Tweetie bird or Pocahontas cakes to insert here, or maybe the really cool one she made for my sister’s birthday to look like swimming pool, complete with graham cracker bears in bikinis. I have decided that my children will always be getting cake balls or cupcakes for their birthdays, unless my mom happens to be in town.

We are hoping that this is the last birthday Quinn will have to spend without a family and next year, he will get some sort of yummy baked goods and presents just for him. Maybe even a party!

Today, he might not even know that it is his birthday. Let alone presents and cake. As I understand it, orphanages  have a mass birthday party to celebrate many birthdays at the same time.

Ha, can you imagine that? Most kids I know anticipate their birthdays for weeks. Countdowns. Multiple parties. A big pile of presents.

I can’t wait to celebrate Quinn and Erika’s birthdays with them… even if it’s just cupcakes and one present, I know it will be meaningful for them.

The actual today, May 4th, is the birthday of the coolest seven year old I know– Owen! That kid is seriously special, good special… Happy Birthday, Owen!

How cute is he?

Another FAQ

One that I forgot earlier…

Are they siblings?
Biologically, no! But, hopefully, they will be someday! We considered some sibling groups, but they were either too large or the special needs of the children were too great or they were too old for us to adopt or something else entirely. I do not know the details of either of their placement in the orphanage yet, but many orphans in Eastern Europe are “social” orphans (where the parents cannot care for the child for some reason, as opposed to “true orphans” where both parents are dead).